Fusible element for center strut sprinklers

ABSTRACT

An improved fusible element for a fire extinguishing sprinkler comprising a frame having a discharge orifice and a spaced oppositely disposed deflector and means positioned therebetween normally closing the discharge orifice and responsive in opening to predetermined heat conditions wherein opposed cylinders holding fusible material are spaced by a piston movable to displace the fusible material on said predetermined heat conditions occurring.

United States Patent 72] Inventor Theodore Vorkapich Brunswick, Ohio [2|] Appl. No. 881,713

I22] Filed Dec. 3, I969 [45] PillClllCti Aug. I7, l97l I73 I Assignec A'I'O Inc.

Cleveland, Ohio Continuation-impart of application Ser. No. 690,957, Dec. 15, 1967, now Patent No. 3,498,383, and a continuation-in-part of 803,391, Feb. 28, 1969.

[54] FUSIBLE ELEMENT FOR CENTER STRUT SPRINKLERS 4 Claims, 4 Drawing Figs.

51 1m. c1 .l A62c 37/127 [50] Field ofSearch 169/37, 38,

[5 6] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,498,383 3/1970 Vorkapich Primary Examiner-M. Henson Wood, Jr.

Assistant Examiner-Michael Y. Mar Attorney-Webster B. Harpman ABSTRACT: An improved fusible element for a tire extinguishing sprinkler comprising a frame having a discharge orifice and a spaced oppositely disposed deflector and means i positioned therebetween normally closing the discharge orifice and responsive in opening to predetermined heat conditions wherein opposed cylinders holding fusible material are spaced by a piston movable to displace the fusible material on said predetermined heat conditions occurring.

PATENTED mm mm 3. 599.723

Theaaore Var/(0pm WWW FUSIBLE ELEMENT FOR CENTER STRUT SPRINKLERS I BACKGROUND or THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention This invention relates to fire-extinguishing sprinklers as used in an automatic fire extinguishing sprinkler system.

2. Description of the Prior Art 1 Prior structures of this type usually employ a lever assembly and a fusible element positioned between a cap and a discharge orifice and an adjustment screw positioned centrally of the deflector and the frame of the sprinkler, the arrangement being to tension the cap (see US. Pat. Nos. 3,161,236; 3,336,984; 2,165,477; 2,129,021 and 1,919,508 for examples). This invention eliminates many of the problems attendant upon the manufacture and assembly of the component parts of the sprinkler of the prior art devices as the devices of the prior art must be carefully made to close tolerances and even more carefully assembled into sprinklers in order to be operable.

This invention discloses an improved fusible element and sear assembly responsive in opening to predetermined heat conditions and arranged to prevent cold flow or creeping of the fusible material which may otherwise occur and permit the sprinkled to open.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The p esent invention discloses an improvement in the means h lding the discharge orifice .closed by substituting a simple aisembly of levers engaged at one end on a cap on a dischargti orificeand at their other end on a compression pin in the fr me of the fire extinguishingsprinkler. The levers are so arranged that one of them which is an inverted L-shape is engaged y the other offcenter of the point of contact with the compression pin so that its depending arm portion tends to move outwardly unless restrained. Restraining elements in the form of a pair of opposed sears temporarily cage the depending porti n of this lever and the sears themselves are positioned thtough an opening in the other one of the two levers and held in spaced apart (holdinglrelation by means ofa fusible element disposed therebetween, The fusible element is therefore in compression between the sears and upon fusing, the searslare enabled to move toward one another and are thereby capable of passing through the opening in the one lever, fall'ng free and thereby freeing the caged portion of the other levr thus permitting the fire extinguishing sprinkler to open. l

The im rovement in the present application comprises the arrangement and construction of the sears and the fusible element and incorporates a pair of opposed cylinders containing the fusible material and adds a piston positioned therebetween, the cylinders being held in opposed relation by the confi uration of the scars which are themselves in opposed relation and the assembly being such that fusing of the fusible material at a predetermined temperature permits the piston to move into both of the cylinders displacing the fusible material and permitting the ends of the sears to move toward one another whereby the same may then pull through the opening in the one: lever fall free and thereby free the caged portion of the other iever, thus permitting the fire-extinguishing sprinkler to open. DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 a front plan view of the fire-extinguishing sprinkler incorporating the improved levers and heat releasable fastener assembly.

FIG. 2 ii a back elevation of the fire-extinguishing sprinkler seen in FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 's a greatly enlarged cross section illustrating the sears and fusible element assembly in normal nonfused position and i FIG. 4 is a similar greatly enlarged cross section illustrating the sears and the fusible element in fusedrelation immediately prior to the pulling apart action of the sprinkler in opening.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT By referring to the drawing and FIGS. 1 and 2 in particular it will be seen that the fire-extinguishing sprinkler comprises a sprinkler frame 10 having a base portion 11 exteriorly threaded at 12 and defining a vertical passageway 13 axially thereof, the upper end of which forms a discharge orifice 14. The upper central portion of the frame 10 is enlarged as at 15 and is centrally apertured to receive a compression pin 16. The configuration of the point of the compression pin defines a narrower cone than has heretofore been customary in the art.

A deflector 17 is positioned on the upper endof the frame 10. The discharge orifice 14 is normally closed by a cap 18 together with a gasket therein under and the cap 18 is held in closed position on the discharge orifice 14 a lever and heat releasable fastener assembly.

The lever and heat releasable fastener assembly comprises a primary lever 20 which stands vertically in a groove 21 in the cap 18 and extends to a point adjacent the lower end of the compression pin 16. The primary lever 20 has a rectangular opening 22 formed therein on the vertical centerline thereof and the primary lever 20 is bowed longitudinally throughout approximately three-fourths of its length with the reverse bend inwardly from its upper end. The upper end of the primary lever as indicated in the drawings by the numeral 23 is positioned at one side of the axial centerline of the sprinkler and in engagement with a secondary groove 24 formed in the lower surface of the horizontal section of an inverted L-shaped secondary lever 25. The secondary lever 25 is of inverted L- shaped configuration with its lowermost vertically extending portion 26 being relatively narrower than its upper portion as best seen in FIG. 2 of the drawings. The relatively narrower depending portion 26 is positioned in spaced relation adjacent the rectangular opening 22 in the primary lever 20 as best seen in FIG. 2 of the drawings.

A pair of oppositely disposed sears 27, each of which is provided with an inturned end portion 28 are positioned with their inturned end portions 28 engaged about the depending portion 26 of the secondary lever 25 and through the rectangular opening 22 where they are held in spaced relation by a fusible element assembly which includes a piston 29, a pair of cylinders 30, each of which is filled with fusible material 3], and all of which is positioned between the sears 27 and specifically outwardly extending configurations 32 which on their inner surfaces cage the cylinders 30 while their outer surfaces engage the primary lever 20 and prevent movement of the sears 27 relative thereto.

In FIG. 3 of the drawings, the improved fusible element assembly including the piston 29, the spaced cylinders 30 with their fusible material 31 are shown in normal unfused relation holding the sears 27 and more particularly the outwardly extending configurations 32 thereof in spaced apart relation with the outwardly extending configurations 32 preventing the sears from-being pulled through the rectangular opening 22 in the primary lever 20 by the depending position 26 of the secondary lever 25.

In operation the fusible material 31 in the cylinders 30 upon reaching fusing temperature permits the tension existing in the sear assembly to move the cylinders 30 toward one another and toward the piston 29 thereby displacing the fusible material 31 as the cylinders 30 move over the opposite outer ends of the piston 29 to the position illustrated in FIG. 4 of the drawings. When this occurs, the spacing between the outwardly extending configurations 32 is reduced to the point where the same can pull through the rectangular opening 22 in the primary lever 20 in response to the urging of the depending portion 26 of the secondary lever 25.

It will further be observed by those skilled in the art that the inturned end portions 28 of the sears 27 are at an angle from the normal horizontal plain of the sears 27 with their contacting ends spaced relative to one another except for one small point of contact and it will be seen that this arrangement of the inturned ends 28 of the sears 27 facilitates the motion of the sears moving toward one another as seen in FIG. 4 of the drawings.

Those skilled in the art will recognize that when the fusible material 31 fuses and permits the cylinders 31 to move toward one another and so as to enclose the piston 29 the motion occurs as a result of the scars 27 trying to pull through the rectangular opening 22 as urged by the depending portion 26 of the secondary lever 25, it being remembered that the primary and secondary levers are under tension and are thereby trying to move toward a position different from that seen in FIG. 3 of the drawings. The fusing of the fusible material permits the motion which occurs as the sears 27 attempt to move through the opening 22 and assume the position illustrated in FIG. 4 of the drawings except that the outwardly extending configurations 32 are in engagement with the primary lever 20 as defined by the edges of the rectangular opening 22 therein as will be understood by those skilled in the art.

It will thus be seen that a simple inexpensive easy to assembly fire extinguishing sprinkler has been disclosed and that the fusible element is held in compression rather than tension as in many of the prior art structures and that by reason of the arrangement of the sears and their configurations 32, the actual tensioning or strain of the strutlike levers of the sprinkler is not carried on a fusible element but upon the more solid metal parts thereof.

It will thus be seen that a relatively simple inexpensive and highly efficient lever and heat releasable fastening means for a fire-extinguishing sprinkler has been disclosed which is particularly suitable for its environment There are no projecting portions extending outwardly of the sprinkler which may be accidentally damaged and the arrangement of the levers with respect to the axial centerline of the sprinkler is such that they readily move out of the way upon fusing of the fusible element in the heat releasable fastener, all as hereinbefore described.

Although but one embodiment of the present invention has been illustrated and described, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications may be made therein without departing from the spirit of the invention.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is:

1. In a fire-extinguishing sprinkler having a frame locating a discharge orifice and a deflector in oppositely disposed spaced relation, a cap normally closing said discharge orifice and a strutlike assembly of primary and secondary levers positioned between said cap and said sprinkler frame, one of said levers having an opening therein; the improvement comprising a pair of oppositely disposed sears normally positioned through said opening, portions of said sears engaging each other and caging the other one of said levers, a fusible element positioned between opposite portions of said sears normally spacing the same, means on said sears engageable with said first mentioned lever preventing movement of said sears through said opening when said fusible element therebetween is in normal unfused condition, said fusible element comprising a pair of cylinders having fusible material therein and a piston positioned between said cylinders and the fusible material therein.

2. The fire-extinguishing sprinkler set forth in claim 1 wherein the sears have inturned end portions engaging one another and forming the cage about the other one of said levers.

3. The fire-extinguishing sprinkler set forth in claim 1 wherein the sears have outwardly extending configurations which on their opposite inner surfaces receive the fusible element and wherein the fusible element comprises a pair of cylinders containing fusible material and a piston disposed between said configurations.

4. The fire-extinguishing sprinkler set forth in claim 1 and wherein the sears have inturned end portions engaging one another at an angle from the axis of said inturned end portions. 

1. In a fire-extinguishing sprinkler having a frame locating a discharge orifice and a deflector in oppositely disposed spaced relation, a cap normally closing said discharge orifice and a strutlike assembly of primary and secondary levers positioned between said cap and said sprinkler frame, one of said levers having an opening therein; the improvement comprising a pair of oppositely disposed sears normally positioned through said opening, portions of said sears engaging each other and caging the other one of said levers, a fusible element positioned between opposite portions of said sears normally spacing the same, means on said sears engageable with said first mentioned lever preventing movement of said sears through said opening when said fusible element therebetween is in normal unfused condition, said fusible Element comprising a pair of cylinders having fusible material therein and a piston positioned between said cylinders and the fusible material therein.
 2. The fire-extinguishing sprinkler set forth in claim 1 wherein the sears have inturned end portions engaging one another and forming the cage about the other one of said levers.
 3. The fire-extinguishing sprinkler set forth in claim 1 wherein the sears have outwardly extending configurations which on their opposite inner surfaces receive the fusible element and wherein the fusible element comprises a pair of cylinders containing fusible material and a piston disposed between said configurations.
 4. The fire-extinguishing sprinkler set forth in claim 1 and wherein the sears have inturned end portions engaging one another at an angle from the axis of said inturned end portions. 